Useful Links
United Grand Lodge of England at www.ugle.org.uk
The home of Freemasonry in England.
2017 is a very special date as we celebrate our 300th anniversary with a year-long festival of events.
Our 200,000 members come from all walks of life and meet as equals whatever their faith, ethnic group or position in society. For many this spirit of fellowship is what they value most. Making new friends, helping others, following a family tradition and participating in the ceremonial are also important.
We contribute over £33 million a year as one of the UK’s largest charitable givers. Raising funds largely through voluntary donations we support individual members, local communities and global emergencies.
We welcome people to share our resources from touring the magnificent Freemasons’ Hall to discovering their family history in our archives. We hire out the Hall to film makers and for events such as London Fashion Week.
Start your journey by exploring our website.
Provincial Grand Lodge of the Province of Yorkshire West Riding at www.wrprovince.co.uk
Yorkshire, West Riding is one of the oldest Provinces in Freemasonry and has retained its name from the reorganisation of the English Counties under the Boundary Commission of 1974.
Within the Province there are over 200 Lodges and 82 Royal Arch Chapters with almost 6,000 members. The name does not reflect its geographical extent, which covers the whole of West and South Yorkshire and parts of North and East Yorkshire, an area of some 2,350 sq miles, from Ripon in the North to Sheffield in the South, Bentham in the West to Goole in the East.
The diversity of the region, from moorland to major industrial and commercial centre and market town to large urban conurbation, is reflected in the membership profile, which represents every social and cultural group of the population.
Supreme Grand Chapter at www.supremegrandchapter.org.uk
The Royal Arch is the continuation of Craft Freemasonry. Its members, called Companions, meet in Chapters under a Grand Chapter. Chapters are ruled over by three Principals, who rule conjointly, and the Grand Chapter is ruled over by three Grand Principals, with a Pro First Grand Principal when the First Grand Principal is a Royal Prince.
Chapters at home are grouped as a Metropolitan area or Provinces (based on the old Counties) and Chapters overseas are grouped in Districts. Metropolitan, Provincial and District Grand Chapters are ruled over by a Grand Superintendent who is appointed by the First Grand Principal as his personal representative for the particular area.
